


Talk To Me

by prettypurpleflower



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 14:49:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3613947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettypurpleflower/pseuds/prettypurpleflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iris is done with watching Barry act stupid just because he’s in love with Eddie, so she decides to give both of them a little push.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talk To Me

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the tumblr prompt 'a mutual drunk friend called both of us to pick them up from a party'.

‘Are you still not talking to Eddie?’

‘Of course not. I’m your friend, I’m on your side.’

‘There aren’t any sides, Barry. Eddie and I agreed that it would be best this way. We’re fine. You can talk to him.’

Iris looked at Barry expectantly, but he continued to nervously play with the foam of his coffee.

‘I’m not sure that’s what I should to do as your friend.’

‘Bar, stop using me as a reason to avoid him.’

‘What is that even supposed to mean?’

‘For someone who can run so fast, you’re thinking incredibly slowly sometimes.’

‘Psst, don’t say that, people can hear you. Remember, secret identity?’ Barry hissed, looking around nervously.

‘Don’t try to deflect.’

With his lips pursed and his eyebrows drawn together, Iris couldn’t help but think of a hurt puppy. Apparently she’d hit the nail on the head.

Barry wanted to talk to Eddie. The problem was that for some time now he wanted to talk to him a bit too much. At first talking with Eddie hadn’t been a problem at all. Eddie and Iris had been together and Barry had been low-key in love with Iris since he could think. But then he told Iris about his feeling, which finally made it possible for him to move on, and Eddie and Iris broke up. Suddenly there were so many more… possibilities for Barry. The more time passed, the more Eddie developed from a theoretical possibility to a very real crush for Barry. Not that it mattered. Barry could list a hundred reasons on the top of his head why this was never going to happen.

‘He isn’t talking to me either.’

Iris threw her arms into the air and groaned.

‘You two should know better. You’re adults. I know that you can be thickheaded and oblivious, but he… urgh!’

She hopped from her chair, sending Barry another frustrated look and finally said, ‘Fix it, Barry.’

Then she walked out, all the while muttering under her breath. As Barry knew, it was one of her more obvious stress coping habits. When he had first moved in with Joe and Iris, her pacing across the hall just muttering had been one of the most confusing things in Barry’s young life. Thinking back now, however, Barry found it more embarrassing how long it had taken him to make the connection and go out to ask her if he could help somehow.

Barry took a sip of his by now only lukewarm coffee. He grimaced. If only he had drank it instead of playing with it.

‘Wow, she’s really invested in Eddie and me,’ he said to himself and shook his head. Immediately he frowned again. ‘Not that there is an Eddie and me.’

~

Two nights later at three o’clock in the morning, the shrill ringing of his phone startled Barry awake. Eyes still closed, he felt around on his nightstand and almost knocked over his bedside lamp in the process. When he finally grabbed his phone, the name Iris West blinked garishly bright on the display and panic surged through him. Why would Iris be calling in the middle of the night if it wasn’t an emergency?

‘Baaaarry, Bar. Always answering the phone in a flash! Oopsie.’ Iris started giggling. Barry blinked in confusion. He hadn’t been aware of doing anything fast since waking up, at least not faster than any person could be. Then he caught himself, that wasn’t important right now. Iris was possibly in danger. And apparently very drunk on top.

‘Are you okay, Iris? Why did you call me? Do you need help? Where are you?’ Barry bit his lip to keep himself from talking further. Okay, that had been fast.

‘I’m fiiine, Bar. I love calling you that. Bar. Because Barry is so long,’ Iris said, but her teeth started chattering so loudly that it became hard for Barry to understand her. In a second he was out of bed and stumbling into some clothes. Drunk Iris and cold temperatures outside were not a good combination. The whole situation felt a lot like he had been thrown back in time to the beginning of Iris’ college years.

‘Iris, where are you?’

‘I was at a party and now I’m… not.’ She started laughing again. ‘That’s funny, isn`t it?’

‘Very funny. Tell me where you are exactly now. Please? I’ll come to you.’

‘Yes! You should come. It’s nice. You’ll come here and talk and enjoy the sand and the water.’

Barry’s eyes widened. Why was Iris all out at the coast, at the other end of the city? Didn’t matter, he had to get there.

‘I’m sure it’s nice at the beach. That’s where you are, right?’

‘Yes, Bar. Yay! You always get me, Bar. Get me now?’

‘I’m practically already there. No need to worry. Everything will be okay, Iris.’

Reluctantly Barry ended the conversation, knowing that unlike the speakers in his suit the phone wouldn’t be of much use at high speeds, and raced off.

Nothing. A soft, warm wind was gently rippling the water. The whole coastline seemed deserted. The breaks of a nearby car screeched loudly. Barry looked down at his feet, uselessly trying to shake the sand out of his shoes while he was thinking about Iris’ whereabouts. Had he misunderstood her? Car doors slammed shut and someone started shouting.

‘Iris?’

Barry’s head whipped up. In the blink of an eye he had turned around.

‘Eddie? What are you doing here?’

Another fraction of a second and he was standing right in front of Eddie, a bewildered look on his face. Eddie wasn’t faring any better.

‘What are you- Iris called me. She said she is drunk and-‘

‘And needs someone to get her. Yeah, sounds familiar.’ Barry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was not happening.   
‘She called you, too.’ Eddie didn’t even bother to phrase it as a question. It was obvious that they had been set up. Frustrated, Barry ran a hand through his hair.

‘I told her not to do anything.’

‘What do you mean? Why would she do this? If it’s supposed to be a prank it’s a very odd one.’

‘No, don’t you see? She’s been on my case for weeks to… to get me to talk to you again. And I told her to leave it alone.’

Eddie swallowed visibly and looked away. Although Barry almost wanted to kick himself when he realized how that sounded, he didn’t rephrase it. Worry still gnawing at the back of his head, Barry got his phone out again and sent a quick text message to Iris.

Are you at least okay?

It only took seconds until his phone beeped.

Just talk to each other.

He rolled his eyes.

‘She’s fine.’

‘Oh.’ Eddie’s shoulders slumped down. ‘Then I guess we can just go home again. See you at work tomorrow, Allen,’ Eddie said softly, ready to walk away.

Barry groaned silently. He couldn’t leave things like this. This crush was his own problem and punishing Eddie for it couldn’t be the answer. Especially when Eddie so obviously cared.

‘Wait.’

‘Did you want me to drive you home? I thought you’d be faster if you ran. Or I would have offered, of course.’ Eddie looked at him confused but sincere. Just that look alone made a warm, tingling spread inside Barry, from his stomach to his toes and up until it made his head dizzy.

How could Eddie be so accommodating when Barry had been nothing short of disrespectful towards him?

And of course that meant he lost any sort of control over his mouth once again.

‘Uh, technically I can run a lot faster than a car, yeah. I mean, it’s not really saying much because it’s in town and the speed limit is set very low anyway. I can run faster than the highway speed limits as well, though. You could break all speed limits and race me and I would still win, but… uh, you obviously wouldn’t do that because you’re a detective and because you’re… you. But actually, that’s not what I wanted. Eddie, I’m sorry. For… not talking and all that.’

The soft smile that had taken over Eddie’s face during Barry’s rambling turned sober.

‘I just don’t get why, Barry. I thought we were friends. What could there possibly be that you thought you couldn’t talk to me about?’

‘If you thought we’re such great friends, why did you stop talking to me then?’

Eddie pursed his lips and smoothed out non-existent wrinkles from the sleeve of his jacket, as if he was trying to occupy his hands for a moment. Then he focused on Barry again, his voice clear.

‘I tried and you reacted very unwelcoming. I thought it made you uncomfortable for some reason. Or that our friendship only existed as long as my relationship with Iris existed. I try to avoid imposing on people,’ Eddie said calmly, but his eyes betrayed his sorrow. Barry’s heart and thoughts started racing. That hadn’t been his intention, that wasn’t his plan – scratch that, Barry hadn’t had a plan. Once again he had acted on a stupid instinct and dashed head first into a situation. He had hurt Eddie. Again, even if it wasn’t physical this time.

‘I’m sorry. You are my friend. This was… this was me being stupid. I kind of developed a… a crush on you and after your breakup with Iris it just got worse. Way worse. I thought if I avoid you it’ll go away.’

Barry bit his lip. Now it was out and everything probably over. In any other situation Barry would have been convinced that Eddie was far too polite to laugh at someone, but now he didn’t feel so certain anymore.

‘Iris never told you why we broke up?’  
Barry half shrugged, half shook his head, not sure why Eddie was trying to change the topic. Was he uncomfortable? He didn’t look uncomfortable. If anything, Eddie looked as if all tension had left his body. Barry sighed. The whole business about feelings just went over his head and he was tired of always interpreting everything the wrong way.

‘Someone asked her out and she realized that she was interested. Obviously that is not a very good sign for a relationship.’

‘Wait, but… she always said it was mutual?’

‘It was. Because when she explained to me what happened, I told her that I had feelings for someone else, too. We decided it’s better to let each other go while we can still do it as friends.’

A shiver ran down Barry’s spine and he crossed his arms in front of his chest, unsure whether it was the cold or not. For the first time Barry found himself hoping.

He almost didn’t dare, but he took a deep breath and spoke before he could have second thoughts.

‘Iris broke up with you because you like me?’

‘Well, you didn’t talk to me because you were too afraid to end up stuck with a crush for a friend again. I think we’re even.’

‘We’re stupid. I’m stupid.’

‘It’s not stupid, Bar. More scared than I would have expected from you maybe, but not stupid.’

‘So reasonable,’ Barry teased, trying to keep the abundance of happiness he was feeling suddenly from overflowing.

However, slowly the cold and the early hour were starting to hit both of them. The wind had picked up and the darkness was still looming over them heavily, a constant reminder that they should be home.

‘We should really go and try to get some sleep. We can talk more about this later.’

In the middle of nodding, Barry couldn’t stop his yawn anymore. Eddie grinned at him.

‘Come on, I’ll drive you home. Don’t look at me like that. I know you can run faster.’

Tentatively Barry took Eddie’s hand in his.

‘Sometimes slow does have advantages.’

~

The next morning Barry and Eddie entered the precinct together, as though they had no care in the world besides some weariness, and came to a halt at the staircase leading to Barry’s lab. For a moment they just stood there, staring at each other.

‘So, I’ll see you later, Allen?’

Barry’s heart started beating wildly in his chest. They had a date. A real date without anyone pranking them into it.   
‘Yeah,’ he breathed and he just knew he was blushing again. Before they could split up, Iris had spotted them from the other side of the room. A self-satisfied grin on her face, she came over and handed each of them a paper cup of coffee. For a second Barry got distracted, wondering if working at Jitters for so long had giving Iris a weird desire to give coffee out to people or if it was an excuse to talk.

‘So… How are you both? Anything interesting happened lately?’

‘Funny that you ask. You don’t seem nearly hungover enough to require two people to take you home.’

‘Actually, since she wasn’t there, it would seem she didn’t need anyone to drive her home,’ Eddie pointed out helpfully.

Iris beamed at them innocently.

‘I take it you’re talking to each other again? That’s so nice.’

‘I really wanted to say not to you, but someone told me that would be immature.’

Barry threw a sideway glance at Eddie, who looked pleasantly surprised at Barry’s admission.

Iris raised her eyebrows at their failed attempt at subtlety.

‘Oh, someone, I see.’

Eddie turned fully towards Iris, finally interrupting her banter with Barry.

‘Could you please explain one thing, though? How did you know when to call Barry? We arrived at almost exactly the same time,’ he asked with so much confusion in his voice that Barry almost laughed. Maybe he was also keeping himself from kissing Eddie. He chewed on his lower lip and buried his hand deep in the pockets of his jeans. Maybe.

‘Well, I was still faster than you,’ Barry grinned proudly. With a sigh Eddie shook his head. It was clear to Barry that it was in an affectionate way, but it seemed as if Eddie was slowly realizing that dating Barry could be a lot like dating an enthusiastic puppy.

‘I might have had some help from Caitlin and Cisco.’

‘What? Why are all of you so invested in what’s going on between Eddie and me?’

‘Because you, Barry Allen, were pining. And Eddie was sitting here every day suffering over the question what terrible thing he could have done to you to make you stop talking to him.’

‘I wasn’t pining!’  
‘Bar, instead of talking to him, you talked about him. Just about… all the time.’

Scandalized, Barry turned towards Eddie, who was smiling at him fondly. Immediately Barry’s indignation subsided and he had to suppress the urge to grin back at Eddie like a lovesick puppy. This was going to be hard, wasn’t it?

‘Come on, I still have to show you that report before Singh makes mincemeat out of us for standing around. Bye, Iris.’

‘Ah, the report, yes. It was great seeing you, Iris,’ Eddie nodded seriously, already getting into work mode. Barry rubbed his nose to hide his smile behind his hand. He couldn’t believe Eddie was playing along without any prompting when Barry had just made that report up a second ago. They started heading upstairs, but Iris – always the reporter – wasn’t ready to let them go yet.

‘Guys, stop! I still have questions! What happened yesterday? You owe me the story. And did you think I didn’t notice that you arrived together? I want answers!’

‘Are we going to let her in on the secret that we simply met outside?’ Eddie whispered, his smile even evident in his voice.

Barry hunched his shoulders up, then let them fall again with a shake of his head. For a moment he let his gaze flicker down to Eddie’s lips, but he caught himself again. Now was not the time.

‘Maybe later, when we’re ready to thank her for getting us to go out on a date.’

‘More than one, hopefully.’

‘Definitely more than one.’


End file.
